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Samoa
Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and Western Samoa until 1997, is a republic in Polynesia . The country includes the western part of the Samoan islands ; The eastern part is American territory American Samoa . Furthermore Samoa is surrounded by Tokelau in the north of Tonga in the South and Wallis and Futunain the west. Samoa became independent in 1962 from New Zealand . The country has about 220,000 inhabitants (2009), spread over a land area of 2831 square kilometers. Contents * 1 History * 2 Date Border * 3 Administrative divisions * 4 Demographics * 5 Religion * 6 Geography * 7 Pictures * 8 Trivia * 9 External link History Samoa was in 1722 discovered by the Dutchman Jacob Roggeveen . The French explorer Bougainville visited the archipelago in 1768 and gave it the name Schipper Islands 4 (Iles du Navigateur). It was not until after 1830 before Westerners were more interested in Samoa. In 1839 the American Wilkes concluded a trade agreement with the residents, from 1850 arose German trade settlements. In the second half of the 19th century, parts of the Kingdom Samoa claimed by both the United Kingdom , Germany and the United States . In the years 1878/79, all three of the great powers trade agreements on the Samoan Islands, where a battle raged throne. 4 From 1886 to 1894 Saomaanse Civil War raged between King Malietoa Laupepa and against the king supported by Germany Tamasese. Laupepa sought support from Britain and the US also became involved when the Germans accidentally destroyed some American property. After a cyclone in 1889 both the German and American fleet severely affected, were the three Western powers agree that Laupepa's kingship would be restored and they closed themselves a fragile base, but the civil war raged for five years on. When Laupepa in 1898 died, he was succeeded by Malietoa Tooa Mataafa. However, the US and the UK supported Malietoa Tanu, son of Laupepa, which broke out a new war of succession. American and British ships bombed Apia on March 15 1899 . With the Treaty of Berlin (1899) it was decided to divide the island group: Germany was the western part, the current state Samoa, driving under the name of German Samoa ( 1900 - 1914 ), the United States acquired the eastern part as American- Samoa and the British gave up their claims to Samoa, but were the Solomon Islands to compensate. The monarchy was abolished as a result of the treaty, but there remained a degree of self-existence. Since 1908 , several groups began to turn against the German occupation. After the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 was New Zealand in German Samoa.Germany refused to give up the islands, but the islands were defended in any way. New Zealand occupied German Samoa without firing a single shot and remained so for the rest of the First World War. After the Treaty of Versailles gave Great Britain a mandate over the areas that it handed over to New Zealand; German Samoa was renamed Western Samoa. After World War II controlled New Zealand Western Samoa as a trusteeship of the United Nations . The New Zealand domination called opposition to the Samoans in the form of the violent Mau movement. Partly because public opinion in New Zealand itself, which was critical of the repressive colonial rule and elections incited a softer policy, the process of privatization was started. Samoa officially became independent on January 1 1962 and was the first independent Polynesianstate of the 20th century . Initially there were two representatives of the ancient royal families Malietota and Tamasese for life appointed head of state, but after the death of the last in 1963, there was now only one head of state. Since the death of the Malietota representative in 2007, is head of state, the O le Ao o le Malo , elected for a five year period. In 1997 the country's name was changed from Western Samoa to Samoa. American Samoa condemned this decision because according to them "the name change damaged her identity." Date Frontier Long time Samoa was the country where the last New Year was celebrated, namely at 12:00 hours Dutch time. However, the island decided by 29 December 2011 to move from the eastern to the western side of the date line. This means that a day was beaten: December 30 that year came in Samoa not, because after December 29, 2011 immediately following December 31, 2011. This change made it easier to do business with main trading partners Australia and New Zealand , both of which already lie on the other side of the date line. In 1892, Samoa had just moved the day limit from west to east in order to trade with the United States to promote. That happened on July 4; Samoa fourth twice that day, the day of the Declaration of Independence . Administrative divisions Samoa consists of a total of eleven itūmālō (districts), namely: Map of the districts. Numbers on the map correspond with the numbers on the list. # Tuamasaga ( Afega ) # A'ana ( Leulumoega ) # Aiga-i-le-Tai ( Mulifanua ) 1 # Atua (Lufilufi) 2 # Va'a-o-Fonoti (Samamea) # Fa'asaleleaga (Safotulafai) # Gaga'emauga (Saleaula) 3 # Gaga'ifomauga (Safotu) # Vaisigano # Satupa'itea ( Satupa'itea ) # Palauli (i Vailoa Palauli) 1 including islands Manono , Apolima and Nu'ulopa 2 including the Aleipata islands and Nu'usafe'e island 3 including several enclaves in Upolu (Salamumu and Leauvaa villages) Demographics A Samoan family. According to the CIA World Factbook Samoa has a population of 182 265 of which 92.6% Polynesian, 7% Euronesianen (partly Polynesian, some European blood) and 0.4% European. Most Europeans in Samoa are of German origin. Religion In 2001, about 98% of the population of Samoa Christian . These are spread over many different churches waaronder Congregationalisten (35,5%), Rooms-katholieken(19,6%), Methodisten (15%), Mormonen (12,7%), Assemblies or God (6.6%), Seventh Day Adventists (3.5%), other Christians (4.0%), Worship Centre (1.3%), unnamed (0.8%) (2001). 7 In 1963 was Malietoa Tanumafili II, head of state ( O le Ao o le Malo , which means "head of government"), the first ruler who is a follower of the Baha'i Faith . He died on May 12 2007 . At that time he was 94 years old the oldest head of state in the world. He was head of state for life. His successor, tufuga Efi became head of state on June 16, 2007 and is elected for 5 years. Near Apia is a Bahá'í House of Worship , which was dedicated by Malietoa Tanumafili II in 1984. Geography Map of Samoa View of Upolu . Samoa is located south of the equator, about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand in the Polynesian region of the Pacific . The total land area is 2934 square kilometers and consists of the two islands of Upolu and Savai'i which cover 99% of the land area of Samoa, and eight smaller islands: the three islands in the Strait of Apolima ( Manono , Apolima and Nu'ulopa ) four Aleipata islands a few kilometers from Upolu ( Nu'utele , Nu'ulua , Namua and Fanuatapu ) and the islet Nu'usafe'e (less than 0.01 square kilometers in area and about 1.4 km from the south coast of Upolu removed) The main island of Upolu is home to nearly three-quarters of the Samoan people, and the capital city is Apia . The climate is tropical, with an average annual temperature of about 26.5 ° C, and a rainy season from November to April. Savai'i other hand, is the largest island of Samoa and the sixth largest island of Polynesia. The population of Savai'i is 42,000. Pictures * The Sopoaga waterfall in east Upolu * * Brass band of the police in Apia * Baha'i House of Worship Trivia * Since Monday, September 7th, 2009 is left drove. Despite protests from citizens and businesses, this measure has yet been made by the government. The government wanted to facilitate the importation of cars from Australia and New Zealand, where many residents of the island state relatives and where traffic drives on the left. * Despite the low number of inhabitants, the national rugby team of world class. Since 1991 they have each Rugby World Cup competed. External link * Samoa News * Category:Country Category:Samoa Category:Commonwealth of Nations